Biohazardous
by Danmakujinkyaku
Summary: "You? You're a danger to everyone around you! How can you be a Hero like that?" "I... I... I don't know. But I will become a Hero! You cannot stop me!" Alternate title: Imagine Dragons's Radioactive
1. Chapter 1

_Come here, sweetie…_

_Hold mommy's hand…_

* * *

Early morning sunlight filtered through a thick and tinted window, hitting Izuku Midoriya's face as he woke up. He blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes and yawned. He used his arms to push himself up from the bed, having slept stomach-down, and began to stretch himself. First, there were his arms. Then, his neck and shoulders, followed by his back and his jagged dorsal plates, running all the way down from his nape to the tip of his 1.5-meter long tail. He began to scratch himself, along both his skin, his scales, and the places where scales became skin and skin became scales.

He lazily checked his personal at-home smartphone. The day was Wednesday: he was required to go to school. He didn't want his friend Kacchan to go through with his promise if he were to not go to school at least four days a week.

Getting out of bed, he made himself some cereal and turned on his television set. As he watched the latest Hero news, he ate with one hand and took notes with another, using his tail as a leverage and a third appendage. After that, he brushed his teeth, took a shower, and put on his underclothes.

Before he could put on his middle school uniform, however, he had to pass through the thick, lead barrier between his apartment's reception area and his living area. After putting in a special code, part of the barrier opened up, revealing the back of one of his overly baggy and bulky hazardous materials suits. They were a chore to put on, but necessary if he were to go out into the world and interact with people. First came came the very restrictive mask that made it hard for him to breath and impossible for him to eat, followed by his special tail harness and dorsal-fin protectors. Next, he gingerly put on his padded gloves, making sure not to make even the smallest rip with his talons. The boots came on next, each on making a strong _thud_ noise on contact with the ground. Finally, he put on his ugly grey-and-yellow bodysuit.

All set to go, he closed the part of his barrier that was open, put in another code, and stepped into the reception area, where his bag, school uniform, and not-at-home flip phone were waiting for him. He put them on, grabbed his house keys, shut the barrier completely, triple locked to make sure everything was secured, and slowly opened the door.

He breathed filtered air, in-and-out, unable to take in the smells of life. He couldn't smell car exhaust, cooked food, or flowers. He couldn't smell whatever his neighbours would've cooked, had they still been living in the apartments adjacent to his. He couldn't smell his friend Katsuki's, or Kacchan's particular brand of cologne, which he knew was from the same company his parents worked at. He could hear his gruff grunts, though. He could also see him waiting outside his door, completely uncaring about things other than making sure his friend goes to school.

"Hey, shut-in. 'Sup. Close that door and let's get to school, Izuku."

* * *

He opened the door to his class.

When he was approaching the door, he could hear it. The sounds of a lively classroom, kids talking to each other and joking about life and their grades and whatever they wanted. People talking to friends and being friendly, even if only to their own cliques and in-groups.

The moment people saw him and his hazmat enter, however, all the talking stopped. It was quiet to the point you could hear a feather hit the floor.

He made his way to his desk, near the back of the room, on the same side as the door and not near the windows like Katsuki Bakugou's desk. He put down his bag and sat down, ignoring the black marker that defaced his desk all over with insults and comments and threats. He didn't care about any of it; he had more important things to worry about.

Kacchan, though? He wouldn't let it go. When he saw that Izuku's desk had graffiti on it, he stomped over from his desk, cutting through the room and standing in front of his friend. His teeth were bared, and he was snarling like a rabid animal. His palms exploded with fury.

"**Who're the assholes that did this?**" No one came forward. No one raised their hand. The only sounds that could be heard were Katsuki's heavy breathing and Izuku's exasperated sigh. "_None _of you? What, was it the **fairy **_**fucking**_ **godmother**? Come on, you **fuckers**!" He punctuated this with an explosion on another student's desk. "You got the _balls_ to do this _shit_ to Izuku's desk right here, but **none** of y'all have the _balls_ to **face me for it**! Get out of the crowd, or I'll **find you myself**. Believe me, you won't like the fact that I had to waste my precious time and effort to track down which scumbag did this."

The silence in the classroom was thick enough to shatter iron. Everybody in class knew Katsuki, as much as he wanted to be a hero, was a dangerous element to get angry and volatile. He was like a stick of dynamite- light the fire, and prepare to be blown up. Everybody also knew that he was a fierce friend of the class weirdo, Izuku. The middle schooler was an easy target to pick on, largely due to his general apathy about it, but he was also a dangerous one just because he was the mouse riding on the back of the lion.

Still, it wasn't fair the entire class had to be the ones cowering in fear just because a couple of assholes decided to write on Izuku's desk.

"H-hey, anybody see who did it?"

"I didn't it- I got here just a couple minutes before those two."

"I walked in right before those two!"

"Hey, I came in here thirty minutes ago. That mess looks like, I don't know, an hour's worth of insults and a couple black markers."

"That's not my handwriting."

"Those were there when I got here."

"Well, they aren't my words, and I was the first one here this morning!"

"So, was it someone who stayed after last night?"

"You don't think any of us would've broken in, right?"

"Hey, someone did _that_ over there. There's probably-" A hand smacked against one of the tables.

"_**Fine!**_ I did it!" It was a student that was tall for a middle schooler, with a generically mean face and a head with a wicked multicolor hairdo. His bat-like wings flared out from behind him as he stomped up to face Katsuki, his face a nervous snarl. "It was me, bitch! I was the guy who wrote all over Deku's desk."

"..._No_."

"Wha-" He was roughly grabbed by the collar. "What are you on about?"

"That ain't it. This wasn't done by just your scummy hands alone. Now, tell me who else did it, and I'll leave you with only a few marks. Stay quiet, and you'll have to take care of full-body burns."

"Why should you care, anyway? Why do you always have to be Deku's attack dog, huh? Hell, half the class ain't sure that _freak's_ even human- never takes off that hazmat suit! What ugly mug does he have to hide under all that shit, anyways?" The Explosioneer threw him at the nearest wall, and picked him up again to slam him a second time.

"You know the **fucking** reason."

"Even more reason to call Deku a freak! Seriously, how can Deku be a Hero with a Quirk like his? It's useless to Heroes, like a paper doll in the rain! It'd be better if he was Quirkless, that way we wouldn't be in any trouble at all! I, for one, am glad Deku ain't trying for any sort of Hero course. It's better for all of us if that useless trash stays away from all society!" He received a fist to the nose.

"Shut up, shut up, **shut up**! You have no right to call him by that childhood nickname, dammit! I'm gonna-"

"Do nothing, Kacchan." Everybody's heads whipped around to look at the boy in the hazmat, still sitting at his seat, his first-period textbook already out and in front of him. "Class is about to start, and that means our teacher's going to come in soon. You're aiming to get into U.A.'s prestigious Hero course, right? You haven't gotten into much trouble here at Aldera, but assaulting another student is going to affect the likelihood of your acceptance into U.A. If that happens, Auntie Mitsuki's going to be very worried about you. She and Uncle already have a lot of problems to worry about, so just ignore him, Kacchan. It's better that way."

"Kuh…" He looked back at the target of his ire and rage, who looked like he was about to break into a grin. "If you smile, I kick your balls." He let go of him, and cooly walked back to his seat. He gave Izuku a worried look as he passed by.

* * *

When he was younger, Izuku was a very helpful boy. Always opening the door for strangers, always trying to help some old lady cross the street, those types of things. He was kind, gentle, and just wanted to help people.

That attitude may or may not have been because of his fondness for Heroes, who used their Quirks, their superpowers, to help the people. Granted, there were people who only wanted fame and fortune from being a Hero, but Izuku usually tried to ignore those jerks. No, he focused more on those people that actually wanted to help, reading news articles and watching videos with his mother, Inko Midoriya. He would've watched them with his father, but Hisashi Midoriya was often overseas, working hard for Inko and Izuku to send them money. So, he was mostly left with his mom.

Izuku Midoriya spent loads of time with his mother. He couldn't sleep alone in his bed, despite all the nightlights and bedtime stories he was given- he had to sleep next to mommy. He also refused to shower for himself, instead getting his mother to bathe him and clothe him. He spent so much time with his mother, and so much time being a young Hero nerd, that she often knew more Heroics trivia than everyone else in their apartment complex, and sometimes in the Bakugou's apartment complex.

Now, Katsuki's interactions with Midoriya were different than everyone else's interactions with the broccoli boy. Unlike many other young kids who met the curly-haired cinnamon roll, Kacchan wasn't annoyed with all of Izuku's rambling-ons and such. In fact, while he didn't talk as much, his own explosive voice and personality made him as vocular as the green bean. They quickly grew into close friends, often playing 'Heroes" together with other kids in the streets and playgrounds of Mustafu, Japan. They were- and still are- close friends, inseparable and willing to do whatever it takes for the other.

For example, the side-effects of Izuku's Quirk.

His Quirk showed up less than a week after Katsuki's Quirk first manifested. As it turned out, Izuku's Quirk was a bit of a mutation. When kids are born with the ability to have Quirks, their Quirk is usually one of three things- their mother's Quirk, their father's Quirk, or some combination of the two that creates a new Quirk. However, like the Glowing Baby that had the world's first Quirk, mutations and other oddities can happen in genes.

When Izuku woke up one morning when he was four to see his lower arms, lower legs, upper back, and tailbone area covered in dark green scales, talons instead of nails, and a tail, he was very surprised. As it turned out, it was a gene that Hisashi's father had passed on to his son, failed to show- or, since it is a Quirk, activate- in Hisashi, and then showed up in Izuku. It was a simple Mutation Quirk that made Izuku be similar to a Komodo dragon- strong jaws, tough claws, hard scales, and good terrestrial and aquatic ability. That was the oddity.

The mutation affected the other parts of his Quirk. He sort-of inherited his father's ability to breathe fire, as well as his mother's ability to attract small objects, which combined with his Komodo-esque genes to make him a fire-breathing reptilian guy that could absorb heat to power himself up. That's what teenage Izuku theorized his Quirk would've been had it not been for the mutation, which basically replaced anything having to do with heat or fire with radiation.

He could breathe radiation and absorb it, alongside his reptilian qualities. Little Midoriya was very pleased with his Quirk, especially the absorption part- think of all the accidents that he could help clean up with that ability! He could even do it from the water thanks to the Komodo in him. He and his family were happy with the power he had, and he showed it off to Kacchan and his family. The two even had begun little sparring matches with each other, using their Quirks to attack and defend and stopping before it got too out of hand. He refused to spar using his radioactive breath, though- didn't want any complications from hitting Kacchan with a beam of radiation, after all.

16 months after his Quirk manifested, at the age of five-and-a-half, Inko Midoriya was diagnosed with cancer. 28 months after his Quirk manifested, at the age of six-and-a-half, Inko Midoriya passed away.

Izuku suspected that it was he himself that caused his mother's death. His Quirk dealt with radiation, so him being a walking carcinogen wouldn't be too far fetched an idea. Oddly enough, it was an isolated incident; tests and scans revealed that Izuku's classmates and teachers, as well as the Bakugou family, were largely cancer-free, with a few being labeled as "at-risk" for the dreaded disease. Try telling that to a young boy who lost the person he was closest to.

Izuku contemplated giving everything up- his dreams of becoming a Hero and saving others, his home, his father, Kacchan- and running away, hiding somewhere in the wilderness or something. He might try to stow away on a ship headed for somewhere like Antarctica, or just swim there himself. One of the Dawn-Era Heroes he knew of was a person who got stronger as he got angrier and gave off huge amounts of radiation himself; he hid himself in a cave for decades before people found his remains and gave him a proper burial.

It was only because of his father and Kacchan that he dropped the idea to seclude himself somewhere far from civilization and his family, but it came at some conditions. He wanted to be left alone in a place in designed to keep radiation from leaking out as much as possible, and if he had to go to school- the agreed amount was at least 3 days every week when there isn't a break- he would get hazmat suits. They even managed to get some equipment installed into the Midoriya apartment, such as separate reservoir to keep his potentially-radioactive water from contaminating Mustafu's water system. They managed to get a contract with a specialized company to clean off his suits and return them to him every other weekend, as well as dispose of the water, trash, and everything else- they'd even clean school uniforms for him. Hisashi could barely foot the bill with his work overseas, but they managed to find help and funding from a charity organization calling themselves "All for Everyone."

And so, Izuku willingly trapped himself in his anti-radiation bunker, his self-imposed prison cell. Here, he let his thoughts and feelings fester, like a wound that just won't heal or get better in any way. Days pass in self-resentment, years pass in increasing antisociality. His continual silence cause more and more of his peers to ignore him or antagonize him, with only Katsuki being a true friend to him and somewhat grounding his sanity- what could his overseas father do? But friendship and his father's best are only strings holding him to a cliff.

He hates himself. He doesn't believe he can ever go down the same road he wanted to years before. He wants to give up Heroes entirely He's a weak mind, corruptible, and inching closer to heading down a dark road that could leave him not as a Hero, but something else.

Destruction.

* * *

As soon as Izuku exited the school, he headed left and saw it- a manhole. He went straight for it, knowing all eyes are on him, and removed the covering.

This is how he gets home: he wades through the sewer system. Well, he doesn't wade through the ick, but the waves of sludge are high enough that they sometimes spill over onto the walkways lining the sides of the sewer pipes. It's fine for Izuku, though- it ain't radiation, but he's developed a tolerance for the waste. It was something he had to get used to if he wanted to avoid people on his way home. He would do it on his way to school too, but Kacchan would have none of it- he knew Izuku would go straight home after school, but he didn't trust that Izuku would make his way to school on his own without trying to stall for time or sneak back home. He wasn't wrong to be wary of his friend, as that urge was always at the back of his mind.

His tail swished behind him as he walked, kicking up some dust and cleaning some cobwebs. Something was off- he could feel that he wasn't the only thing down there, disregarding all the rats and insects. No, there was something else down here with him- something around his size, if not a little larger.

Rounding the corner, Izuku saw what it was he was sensing. It was a mass of metal, vaguely in the shape of a dog. It had the familiar four-legged stance and elongated snout of a dog, but that was it. The legs ended with singular hooks and wheels instead of paw pads and claws, and the muzzle had a single large flashlight instead of a mouth or nose. From below the light, which glowed sakura-pink, a tube was extending into the sewer water and siphoning some of it. After a few seconds of this, Izuku saw the metal straw rescind back into the muzzle of the robo-dog. Slowly, it sauntered off on its little wheels.

Izuku, intrigued, decided to follow it. He'd be fine- he knew these sewers well enough that he'd find the ones that led him back to the manhole outside his apartment complex. He followed the mechanimal through twists, turns, and sludge. They strolled through the muck before he eventually saw some natural light. They were heading for one of the sewer system's exit grates, built to allow large machinery to enter the sewer system in case the city needed it; they were rarely opened, but they did see use and upkeep. The dog was heading for one- it was probably too big to fit into the manholes on the surface, so someone let it in there.

His curiosity was stalled when he saw the obvious shadow of a person outside the gates, likely the machine's owner or something. Of course he wanted to know what was going on here, but he didn't want to involve himself with another person, especially since he just waded through the sewers. After a few moments of deliberation, Izuku turned tail and headed home. He was fine with doing that- he needed to do his homework, anyway.

His encounter with that machine will change the course of his life forever.

* * *

**A/N: From the plot bunny that refuses to be silenced, it's a new fanfic!**

**This came up while writing Fighting Spirit chapter 16, and I couldn't focus without getting this idea out of my head.**

**This one will be very sporadic with its updates, so be patient about that and all.**

**For reference, my mental image of the robo-dog here looks like the Scrappers from Horizon Zero Dawn but with the Watcher's head in place of the Scrapper's... uh... "mouth." If you have a different image, though, use that if you want to.**

**And, to those who don't get it or quite understand, Izuku is like a little Godzilla, a Godzilla Junior if you will. Maybe even a Minilla- mini Godzilla. I don't have any plans so far to include other characters with kaiju-like stuff, but if I will, I'll try to add them in as side characters. Maybe I'll even have to make a third Hero class... shelving that idea for later.**

**In any case, see you guys next time. Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Will they ever wave back at me?_

* * *

Izuku could always tell when King Shisha, the robotic dog, was around. It was mostly the smell of it, thanks to that odd company giving his hazmat a small upgrade. The new suit, unlike his apartment, had a special breathing apparatus with a one-way filter designed to limit what he could exhale, but never what he could inhale. The glass visor was often blurry, he could barely hear through all the layers, but now he could actually smell things, both a blessing and a curse. He would never get tired of occasionally sniffing a flower or stopping in front of a local perfume shop, something he couldn't do before. But he still had to contend with the stink of sweat, the smog of gasoline, and the dankness of the sewers that were his daily commute; at least the old filter kept that out.

Worse still was whenever he smelled food. Actual food, not some rations he could fit into his suit. Food that was warm, aromatic, and likely more filling. Lunchtime at Aldera often caused him to salivate and whimper. He felt like fox spying a delicious grapevine that was a hair too far high for him to reach, no matter the acrobatics done to get at. He cursed his Quirk for taunting him so whenever he was at school. Another complaint to add to his innumerable list of complaints. It was a small one, for sure, but one to be added. And really, did it matter that he was being partly ungrateful for the upgrade?

But now, he felt somewhat glad for it. His olfactory senses could separate the various metals and oxides of the canine from the musty, putrid air of the Musutafu underground. They alerted him to the presence of something he could call a companion.

Was the dog there everyday, or was it only there every other day, like he was? Izuku didn't need an answer, nor did he really care about the question. All that mattered was that the Scrapper was there every time Izuku was there.

After their first meeting, Izuku was very wary of the robot. What was its purpose? Why was it in the pipes with him? Is the machine related to some technology-based villain or villain group? Would any self-defense protocols activate if someone got too close? Could it somehow affect the lead in a hazmat suit and render its anti-radioactive properties null? Questions like these kept Izuku at bay, at least for a week or two. He even toyed with the idea of learning a different rancid route to his home.

Eventually, Izuku approached the contraption. Whatever it was, whatever gadgets it had, it didn't seem to react to a teen in a hazmat suit plodding towards it. And, after a cautionary poke with the tip of his tail, it didn't react negatively to touch. Instead, it just turned towards him. Its pink flashlight-eye glimmered a bit, almost as if it were a real living thing, before it went back to siphoning sludge from the sewers.

It was at this point that Izuku decided to entertain himself a little by simply crouching down and watching the thing and what it was doing. This was not something new to the teen; being the shut-in he was, just watching the world outside his window was a common pastime of his. Common, if lonely.

Simply spending time with the metal thing seemed to spark something inside Izuku. One day, he started talking to it. Their first conversation, like the ones that would follow, was one-sided, and it mainly consisted of Izuku asking the dog questions and then answering those questions himself with his own thoughts and opinions. As time passed, however, the questionnaires turned into full-blown short stories and snippets of the radioactive komodo's daily life. What happened in class that day, what he and Kacchan did during lunch, conversations they had on their way to school- all of it was conveyed to the little robot while it did its job in the sewers.

Of course, the talking stopped when Izuku and King Shisha got close to that gated doorway where its creator or user was waiting behind; the boy was too shy to talk to a stranger he didn't ever meet.

Still, finding his new companion helped raise the boy's spirits a little, and it showed. The way he eld himself up, the way he walked, everything was a bit more chin-up and head-held-high. Even his manner of talking was affected, and sounded more confident. Kacchan, being his closest friend, began to notice this.

"Hey, shut-in. I can't see under that suit, but I can tell you've been having this dopey grin on your face for a bit." He said this to Izuku one morning on their regular commune.

"R-really?" He moved a hand up to touch his face, forgetting he still had his hazmat suit on. "Oh."

"Oof. Sorry about bringing the mood down a little, nerd. It's just, you looked so happy that I had to point it out. Most of time, you're just... indifferent about things."

"Hmm… well, I wasn't too- Oh lord I'm a bad friend!"

"Izuku, No! Stop doing that. You were just happy, I don't want you to get back to being down in the dumps. And what do you mean, 'bad friend?' You're an amazing pal, dammit!"

"Aw, thanks for that, Kacchan! But I really am, honest! See, there was this big event I was supposed to tell you about, but I kept on forgetting about it until now when you brought up how I looked happy. Which I still find weird, anyway. How come you can tell without seeing my face? Is it my words, my speech, my tone? Is it my movements, my actions, my-" The other lad respectfully nudged the komodo's shoulder, a signal they use when Bakugou decides he needs to get a word in while or before Izuku begins to ramble about stuff.

"That isn't as important as what this 'event' is. What were you supposed to tell me?"

"Right, right. Well, the thing is, I… uh… I made a friend. Another friend."

Bakugou just stared, an unreadable expression on his face. When it comes down to it, Bakugou had been Izuku's only friend since childhood. He was the person that saw Izuku's ups and his many, many downs. He was the shoulder Izuku cried on- a rare event, but something inevitable- and the person Izuku told his secrets too. Yes, Izuku had an online presence, but he was paranoid and so had no friends on all the message boards and social sites he visited. This, more or less, made his friend a bit dependent on him, which was something Bakugou lamented. How could Izuku grow as a person, even as a shut-in, if he only had one friend to bridge him with the outside world?

As the information processed itself in his mind, he began to smile. Tears welled from his face.

"Goddammit, shut-in. You made me cry with happiness." He wiped away some of the tears. "Shit, this makes me feel like Auntie Inko. She was always the emotional type. I'm sure she'd be crying happy, too." He then forced Izuku into a hug, and then gave him a soft noogie.

"Kacchan, careful! You're going to mess with the seams around the chin and neck."

"Nevermind that," he said to Izuku, who was currently readjusting the head portion of the hazmat suit. "I wanna meet your other friend."

"Uh, um, I usually meet after school… while you're in club… and I walk the sewers…" The blonde just waved a hand.

"Club got canceled. Apparently, the president was a jackass that was talking shit about some of the girls in the club. Incidentally, I've got to attend a parent-teacher conference with the shitstain later today; if the smell of shit and piss makes him uncomfortable, that'll be a small win for me." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "So, there's no way I'm not going to help you with expanding your friend group this afternoon."

"Erm, well…"

"Come on, what are you so guarded about?"

* * *

"... Y'know, the expression _is _'man's best friend,' but I don't think the people that came up with that meant this." He didn't know what he would be expecting when he came down to the sewers today. Some person with a Quirk like Izuku's, but more akin to a mutant alligator or turtle than an irradiated lizard? Probably. Some friendly hobo? A likely scenario.

He didn't expect junkyard junkdog.

Well, having an actual friend and a non-living confidante was better than nothing, Bakugou supposed. It was like that one American movie they watched when they little about the volleyball and the cast-away.

"What? Come on, Kacchan. Don't tell me you think something's wrong with King Shisha." Just hearing the voice of his friend made Bakugou give up whatever fight he had.

"No, no. I don't think anything's wrong with him. It's just- I'mma be real with you, Izuku. I kinda thought that, when you said friend, you were talking about something… organic."

"... Well, I'm pretty sure this thing has a bit of steel in it, and steel is an alloy made from a mix of carbon and iron, and carbon is-" Bakugou gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Don't be a smart-ass, smart-ass. Besides, you know what I meant by organic. But, well, this is fine." He pet Shisha on the head, despite knowing that it wouldn't do anything. "It's kinda like when a smaller child calls a toy or something their best friend. Honestly, the fact that you're opening up to something, even if it isn't real, makes me pretty happy. I don't have to worry about whether your loneliness will turn you into a serial murderer or something."

"Did you really have to say something so ominous?"

"Of course! I need to get my opinions out and heard. Communication between two people is important. Er, speaking of which, how do you talk to Junkyard Dog here?" He squat down next to the contraption, a respectable distance between him, the sludge of the sewers, and the dog. Izuku took his place in the space next to Shisha, slightly closer to the waste than Kacchan was but not as close as his new confidante was.

"Nothing special, really. I just talk to him, follow him around whenever he decides to stop doing what he's doing and go around the pipes, chatting all the while. He doesn't talk, of course, but I like to pretend he can. Sometimes I do his voice myself."

"Uh huh. And, what is it that Junkyard Dog does here? I mean, I can see he has, like, a syringe or something dipped into the sewer water, and I see it going up the thing. Just, what do you think happens to the shit it sucks up?"

"I don't really know. I thought this guy belonged to some company or organization taking data from the gunk in the river, but I looked all over and couldn't see any type of logo. I'm thinking some independent group is trying to clean the sewers or at least analyze what's in them, but… I just don't know." An idea struck him. "Actually, come to think of it, there's this figure that keeps on waiting for the King Shisha around the old gates."

"Those rusty things? Huh. Have you talked to this person? No, wait, don't answer that question. I already know the answer." Explodonator sighed, and Izuku looked meek as he shrugged in apology. "So, how long have you not-interacted with the person behind the gates? Do you even know what they look like?"

"All I can tell is that their shadow gives them a unique head shape; might be hair, might be Quirk-related, might b- you're going to try and make us interact, won't you?" The boys held eye contact. Bakugou turned away first. "Oh my stars, Kacchan, please don't. I don't want to!"

"You're going to have to eventually. Would you rather do it now or later?"

"Never!"

"Not a damn option, sadly." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Getting up from his squat, Bakugou stretched his legs before offering his friend a hand up. Izuku took it with wary eyes, and when he was hoisted up, Kacchan put a gentler hand on his shoulder while keeping a firm grip on his friend's hand. He couldn't really get away now. "I know, Izuku, I know. I've been your friend for years on end now, so I know this is hard for you. You're scared, afraid of another person that might judge your Quirk."

"That's an understatement, Kacchan." He tried to force his way out; the hand on his shoulder tightened. "Please let me go, Kacchan."

"As soon as you let me finish talking, I will. Are you going to let me finish talking to you about making another friend?" Izuku contemplated his words for a moment, and weighed the pros and cons before ultimately nodding yes. "Okay, good, good. Now, you don't have to do this now; I _did_ give you the option of meeting with that other person now or later. The bottom line is, you are going to have to talk to that person eventually. Either by your own curiosity or because the whoever's behind the gate is wondering why their beloved metal pooch is being followed around by some junior highschooler in a hazmat suit and they decide to make the first move."

"Hey, I already told you earlier this morning on our way to school when I explained what me and Shshia do; I always shut up when we get near the gates!"

"You don't know how good their hearing is. Also, I'm fairly sure your footfalls echoed." He lightly tapped the ground to prove his point. "So that means that other person is likely aware of something, or someone in this case, tailing their creation and the shit that Junkyard Dog sucks up. That means that other person is likely aware of _you_. If you're not going to want to confront this person now, you're going to have to at least prepare yourself for a future conversation."

The komodo whined and lowered his head, looking all downcast and gloomy. Kacchan was right; all he was doing was delaying the inevitable. Social interaction… definitely his weakest area. And what a scary area at that, too. Still, it wasn't impossible for him- he had a friend in Kacchan and King Shisha, after all. And he knows that they'll be with him for this. They'll help him.

Help…

"Kacchan, can I… can you help me? Can you help me practice this whole thing? I'd feel more confident and prepared if, well…" He looked up at his friend and saw a small, soft smile.

"Of course, you lazy shut in." Shisha stopped collecting data from the river and began to walk away. "Let's follow the mutt while we begin your social training."

* * *

"So, Izuku…" The trio- explosioneer, komodo, and dawg- were walking along the sewer path, carefully treading around pools of grime and dirt. It was a few days after Izuku had asked Katsuki for help in interacting with a stranger he knew but never interacted with. Most of their sessions were done on their commute to and from school, although there was one day where Katsuki stood outside Izuku's door and conversed with him there. Izuku had also done some research into basic human interaction; ut never hurt to be too prepared, after all. "Are you thinking of doing it today, or are we going to continue our talks?"

"No, no… I think I have this thing down. I feel ready to talk." Despite what he said, he gulped and shook a few beads of sweat off his head. "Of course, I'm a bit nervous about this meeting. I'm hoping I can get another friend out of this, but if things go south for me I'd feel terrible about everything. I don't think I'd be able to even use this path to go back home, that's how poor I'd feel." He hung his head. "Although, if it does turn out negative, I guess I can act normally. Indifference and negativity are, sadly, the most constant things in my life."

"Oi, please stop. We really don't need to go there. Hell, I refuse to go there. We are not going into that conversation. We're headed for a different conversation, one that's going to be good and positive and you're going to get a new friend, dammit!" Katsuki maneuvered himself so he was in front of Izuku, and was walking backwards. This way, he could talk face-to-face. "Don't worry about a damn thing, Izuku. I got your back on this. Remember that! And remember, this is gonna be good."

"... Thank you, Kacchan."

"Don't mention it. Like I said, I got your back. I'll also get my phone out to record you when you finally make a new friend that can actually communicate with you. No offense to Junkyard Dog here."

"What? No! No, stop, don't do that! You're going to embarass me, Kacchan!"

"Too late, I can already see the shadows of the gate and this mystery person." Bakugou rapidly decreased his pace, putting him behind his friend. He put both hands on the back of Izuku's hazmat suit as King Shisha went up to the gates of the sewer. The shadow of a person fell across the robot, and Izuku's pulse quickened.

"Wiat, Kacchan! We still need to talk about the whole recording thing!"

"Enough waiting! No time like the present, sink or swim, yadda yadda. Go, make a friend!" He pushed him forward, causing him to stumble forward and near the edge of the shadows and light. As he righted himself, he looked with the corner of his eye.

He was finally able to see the mystery person that had invaded his thoughts, along with their dog that also invaded his thoughts. This person was a girl shorter than him, with pink dreadlocks that went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a dark tank top and grey overalls that were partially wrapped around her waist, as well as brown boots and a navy fingerless gloves. Something unique were the goggles on her forehead, which were big and looked like they came from a steampunk videogame. She was also dirty, smudged with oil and grim, with a black streak across her cheek. What was most striking were her eyes- they were golden, with pupils shaped like crosshairs. Those crosshairs were currently trained on him.

For a moment, neither of them spoke; they just stared at each other while Kacchan was filming off to the side. Izuku felt awkward about the whole silence thing, and gulped as he took the first initiative.

"H-Hi…" She instantly broke into a wide smile, rushed through the gates, and took Izuku's hand in hers to violently shake.

"Hi! How are you? Thanks for looking after my baby for me! The name's Hatsume, Mei Hatsume! Hatsume, as in inventions and inventing- and boy, do I love that sort of thing! Baby number 14 is a bit of a new invention of mine that's part of a collaboration with a classmate for our science fair project! I took my baby down to the sewers here, not expecting anyone to be down here, but then you turn out to be here! And I was so excited to talk to someone about my baby that they were following, but then you just slinked off! And that made me a bit sad, like I scared away a kid. But then you kept on coming back! But then you kept on leaving. And I just kept on wondering if you were ever going to talk with me or even face me or just keep away or something like everyone else does, and I got sad a bit. But then I could hear you talking to my baby, and so I thought I could have a chance! By the way, what's with the fancy suit? Is this some type of support gear to help regulate a Quirk? Gotta say, you could be doing a bit better than just a boring heap of lead, cloth, and rubber covering you. But I can kinda see something like a middle school uniform. Are you a student somewhere? Can you and your blonde frined in the shadows tell me where you guys come from everytime you guys go to the sewer? Hey! Hey! Hey!"

As Izuku felt his arm going numb from the constant shaking, Bakugou slowly lowered his phone camera. In the days leading up to this confrontation, the two boys believed the person they would be meeting up with was either your average Joe or an intelligent introvert that was good with machines. In all their hypothesizing and roleplay, they never once thought about an 'eccentric extroverted engineer' type character.

… _Well, I guess getting adopted as a friend by an extrovert isn't so bad. Kind of sucks that me and Izuku had to be so dramatic about this, though. Lots of time wasted, really._

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

"Ka-a-a-a-cha-a-a-an! My-y-y-y-y a-a-a-a-arm! He-e-e-e-elp!"


	3. Chapter 3

_What a wild and mysterious being..._

* * *

After freeing his arm from the scary pink-haired lady, Izuku quickly went to hide behind Kacchan.

"Oh, come on!" He yelled, head tilted back to look at his oldest buddy. He shook Midoriya's cowering hands off his from his shoulder. "Hands off, shut-in! And what's with the trembling? You can clearly tell she isn't like the asshats in our class. Aren't ya excited or happy or something? C'mon, let me see your tail wag." Izuku quickly latched back onto his shoulder.

"Kacchan, it's just too much for me at the moment! I'm being overloaded by her in-your-face friendliness, which I need to remind you is _not_ something I've faced before. You, your parents, and dad aren't excitable like this. At least the stares of our classmates were something I was used to and could handle. How can I handle her?" He pointed in the pink-haired girl's direction while she was just looking at them with her head quizzically tilted to the side. "And besides, komodo tails don't wag." At this, Bakugou huffed, and spun around so that Midoriya was facing the eccentric engineer and that he was behind Midoriya. He firmly held his friend's shoulders and brought his face close to where Midoriya's ear was under his suit's headgear.

"Look, just do as we practiced. You already said hi, now you just need to offer your name, ok? Offer your name, then ask her her's." He stated. He thought back to how he and Izuku had practiced introducing himself to people: pillow dummies, walking with and talking with each other on the way to and from school. Every now and then, they even had Bakugou's mother and father act as friendly strangers. Bakugou mentally ran a hand through his hair. Of course simulations don't hold candles to the actual event. Part of that was because Izuku was practicing with what he was familiar with, rather than waltzing up to someone unfamiliar and asking him to help him practice his introduction. Another part of that was because the dreadlocked girl had hyperactivity.

He patted the Komodo's shoulder. "Remember, I'm here for you." Izuku trembled out a nod.

"So, uh… yeah… Um. Hi. My name is… it is, it's, uh… my name's Mizuku. I mean, I mean, Midoriya. Uh, Midoriya Izuku. Hi to meet you." He started to choked a little. "Yuh… ya… Your name! What, what is it? What'ser neim?" He breathed in and out. "What is your name?"

"You, pfft, you've got a nice way with words, I'll give you that!" She started to giggle, but forcibly cut that off early. She didn't want to scare away this boy or make him feel bad, and she most definitely didn't want to get the blondie beside him mad. Something instinctual within her told her to be wary. "But I need to say, you could work on it a bit more. Don't worry, with enough practice with people, especially people you don't know or talk to often, you'll be able to introduce yourself to people without worry, like me! And, if you have enough yen on you, you could sign up for a class to help you with speaking to others! Ooh, I feel like I went too far in a tangent. Ahem,"

She bent her body, putting her weight on her right foot and sticking out her left hip. She put a hand ont that hip, winked, and pointed a thumb at herself. "I'm Mei Hatsume, junior inventor professionaire and mother of many innovative babies! I'm at your service!" She blinked. "Wait, didn't I say my name to you both already? Ah, right, I was rambling during my introduction! Man, I can be so scatterbrained sometimes! I didn't think about whether you two could understand me through all the chit-chat I was doing."

"Huh…" Bakugou just looked at her. It wasn't every day somebody met a living trope, like a scramble-brained scientist. He looked to his old friend in the hazmat suit and saw that he was trembling a little bit less than before, which was a good sign. He was calming down, which meant he could communicate more clearly and stutter less. That meant that the radioactive Komodo now had to move on to the next part of their planned conversation: asking about King Caesar. Not only would that sate their burning curiosities about the robotic mutt, but it would be good for helping Izuku socialize. Unless the other person was an ass, asking someone else about something they were doing generally leads to a more detailed conversation and aids a person's social skills.

He nudged Izuku to set the ball rolling.

"So, uh, so, um, what's with you and… what's with Kuh- what's with King Caesar?"

"King Caesar?" Izuku pointed to the dog. "Oh, you're talking about Baby number 14! Wait, I already said, right? I made my Baby for a science fair project at my middle school."

"Baby?" Katsuki interrupted, unimpressed. His childhood friendjust thought about how cute it was that she called her invention Baby, as if she were a mother gushing about a child.

"Of course! I made it, I'm it's mommy and it's my baby! Anyway, shush, no interruptions. I made my Baby to be able to analyze the particles in the sewage pipes. You know, how much of it is organic and inorganic, what are the main chemical compounds, level of microorganisms in relation to all the detritus and waste, that sort of thing." She pauses so she could breathe and slow herself down. As a science enthusiast, she had to constantly remind herself to slow down- no use imparting wisdom to non-scientists if they couldn't understand her.

"My science fair partner is trying to make a chemical compound to clean all the nasty stuff out of the water while still making it drinkable. Now, of course, we already know that there are chemicals and compounds that already do that, but my partner's trying to make a cheaper solution. The more efficient the solution, the more taxpayer dollars get saved!" She paused for a moment. "Hah! Solution. Chemistry puns, heh."

"... Wow, that's… that's actually pretty cool of you and your partner." Izuku stated.

"Thanks for the compliment, Shy Guy! Though, I really need to ask. How come you've been roaming around the Musutafu sewer system?" She got closer to Izuku and peered into the visor on his hazmat suit. "I mean, I've noticed for a while that some shadow was stalking my Baby 14, but then always went away before I could get anything more than a glimpse. Then I started to hear voices, whispers, murmurs in the wind that had to have come from that shadow. And now, I know its you! And also your blonde friend there! Who, by the way, also needs to introduce himself." Bakugou had a tint of red along his cheeks. He was too preoccupied about Izuku that he forgot to introduce himself.

"... Tch. The name's Bakugou. Katsuki Bakugou." He jerked a thumb in the reptile's direction. "I've been Izuku's friend since before kindergarten. I've also been trying to help Izuku deal with his social issues, which you're doing great with, by the way!" He said to the radioactive child. "Now, were you going to say anything else to Izuku or do you want to hear why we're in this shithole?"

"Mmm…" She put her chin in her hand, as if in deep thought. "Not really. Oh, and I want to ask why you decided to name my Baby?"

"Oh! Uh, um…" Izuku gulped as he was put on the spot. "Erm, you see… I don't really… like talking to people much. Or, well, interacting with them. I- I still gotta go to my school though so I need a way to travel and the sewer system is perfect because no one would think to do their daily commute here and then I've been doing this for years then suddenly I see this robotic dog. And, I, well, I just ignored King Caesar here at first, but then, then, as the days flew by I decided I needed to talk to it. I don't really know what compelled me, you know, might be something to do about how lonely humans tend to humanize objects. I-I-I-I tend to see Kacchan on a daily basis, so I wasn't completely alone, but I only had Kacchan, so I probably felt I needed another companion. I couldn't just not name your Baby number 14 in my attempt to humanize it and make myself less lonely, you know. And that's uh, that's… yeah that's- that's it, that's all. Yeah."

"Hmmm..." Hatsume began. "I'm not quite sure how I feel about the shifts from slow and awkward stuttering to fast-paced rambling, and back again."

"Oh." Izuku hung his head. "I'm… I'm sorry about that." Hatsume shoved Bakugou aside and put an arm around Izuku's shoulders, and forcibly lifted Izuku's head back up.

"Oh don't be! It's not meant to insult you or put you down. I'm just saying that that was a bit jarring! I guess this must be how you felt when I started to flap my gums at mach speed, huh? A little off-put, somewhat uncomfortable, but knowing it ain't entirely bad, right?"

"You... you're awfully close…" She removed herself from him, hands held up defensively.

"Okay, okay, I understand you want space." She moved closer to King Caesar and began to inspect the dog. She noticed that there was a couple of scratches along the toe-area. She continued to talk while conducting her examination. "Now, understand I don't just acquiesce to everybody's demands to get off them. I mean, as the prospective support-item designer I am, I think it's a good idea to get real close to people. Easier to take measurements that way, you know. But you just seem so unused to people you don't know that I felt that getting closer would be more destructive than constructive."

She stopped her machinations and then looked at Izuku. "Speaking of support and design and et cetera, who made that hazmat suit of yours? Not only is it not sleek and stylish, but I felt up the material. It didn't feel to good. I can also tell from how sags on you and your body that, aside from not being too form-fitting and looking like it could easily snag on a twig, it's made out of a heavy material. That can't be too comfortable now, can it? Plus, I could hear you how you breathe outta that thing. And by breathe, I mean something more along the lines of raspy gasping or something."

Every word she said, every criticism she directed at the hazmat suit, served to remind Izuku of his situation. Each word chipped away at the unconfident friendliness he was building up with Hatsume and was slowly making him cold again. Neither Hatsume nor Bakugou could see Izuku's face behind the mask as it became more and more impassive. Even so, they could still feel that something was off with the boy; no matter how many layers of clothing a person was buried under, their feelings can still emanate through.

Hatsume started to feel concern. Her face scrunched up as she asked, "Hey, is there anything wrong?"

"Psst," Bakugou nudged his longtime friend. "Do you feel alright telling her about why you wear that thing? Or are you going to try and make up some excuse?"

"Why make an excuse at all? If I was going to try and befriend her, I would have to tell her about my Quirk anyway. Might as well get it over with." Initially, Izuku was worried about what could happen if this prospective friend discovered his Quirk and, like everyone else, retreated from him. After all, who would want to be friends with a carcinogen like him? To help him get over that, Bakugou gave him titles for two different movies and one anime series he could find and watch online. Each one involved people keeping a secret befriending others and, once that secret was revealed, all parties were still friends by the end. Of course, this was only because they were friends in the first place. Telling Hatsume about this now, while they were merely acquaintances at this point?

Well, this radioactive reptile was used to people distancing themselves from him.

"I wear this hazardous materials protective suit because that's what I am." he said, cold but clear, to the pinkie locks in front of him. "A mutation in my Quirk Factor caused me to be a walking radioactive factory. A living biohazard. Resident evil." He stretched out the sagging bits of his suit. "That's why I wear this."

There was a moment of silence. Izuku was expecting this to happen- everyone was afraid of being near him, even if he had the suit on. It was only a matter of-

"Is that all?"

That was not the answer Izuku was expecting. He and Bakugou were staring at her, wide-eyed and mouths agape.

"... Could you run that back? I… I didn't quite catch what you said." He slowly asked of her.

"I was just asking if that was all." She looked at the two of them weirdly. "I thought it was something a bit more complex than that- along the lines of 'toxic dump intern' or something." Pinkie locks shrugged. "Compared to something like that, I just don't find it too interesting if something cool is just a byproduct of someone else's Quirk. I mean, one of my classmates has a Quirk that causes her to spread Mushroom spores wherever she walks. I was excited this one time in Elementary where another classmate got mysteriously sick. I was trying to created a nurse robot, Baby Number 6 if I remember right, and thought that it would be cool to help and find out what was wrong. Turns out, it was just because some of Her spores accidentally clogged up his windpipe. Excitement? Gone." Hatsume had a flat, disappointed look on her face.

She turned her disappointment to Izuku's suit. "In any case, that raggedy hazmat suit you're wearing is an affront to my eyes! Why not appeal for something less… like that?"

"Well, well, uh, these things aren't really, uh, cheap." She facepalmed.

"Must be one of _those_ companies… greedy corporate heads, giving good support companies bad names." Her face brightened up. "Wait, I have an idea~!" Hatsume dramatically pointed at her newest model. "I can design you a much better hazmat suit!"

"Come again?"

"And since I'm doing this for one:my own entertainment and two: my bleeding heart, it will be free-of-charge!"

"**Come again?!**" She took out a pencil, piece of paper, and some measuring tape, and Hatsume began to aggressively measure Izuku's body. "Wai- wha? Wha? Huh? **Huh?**"

"Yes, yes… this material is general-purpose, meant to limit both electromagnetic and particle radiation, but its still unnecessarily stiff and dense… needs flexibility around the tail and dorsal plates… further testing to better prepare materials… that's hot! Thermoregulation system needs an upgrade… so does the ventilation system, most definitely… I'm thinking that helmet has to be changed, add in a mouthpiece with moving parts and a zipper to allow for food intake. Ooh, no! Wait! A detachable air filter with a special lock and seal method would work better."

"Woah woah woah **woah!**" The shyer teen was shaking his hands frantically, which forced Hatsume off his body. Her hyperactivity and close proximity was just too much for the boy to handle at the moment; he needed space and air. He needed those, as well as time to process exactly what the girl just did and said regarding his current equipment. He could hardly believe it, after all. All his thinking about it was exciting him, and he started to breathe too rapidly.

"Hey!" His blonde buddy lightly smacked him upside the head. "Calm down, shut in! Breathe, Izuku, breathe."

"Sorry about that, Midoriya! I was too excited at the prospect of starting a new project. I mean, building stuff like this is why I live and breathe!"

"It's… it's… whoo, okay. I'm okay. I'm okay, Bakugou. It's okay, Hatsume. Hoooh…" His breathing was stabilized. This meant he could think more clearly about the situation at hand. After all, a person he just met was going to try and make his life better to live in. Yeah, okay, that doesn't warrant questioning at all.

He gazed at the engineer from behind his mask. "Why?"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Izuku!" Explodoneer sharply whispered in Izuku's ear.

"Hmm? Can you repeat the question, Midoriya?" the komodo began to play with his index fingers in a sheepish manner.

"Well, it's just… I and Ka- err, Kacchan and I. We just met you today. We're not friends, hardly acqu- acquaintances. And yet, and yet… you want to help me out. For nothing at all!" Hatsume was confused at this point. After all, they live in a society where Pro Heroes exist. They did their good deeds for free, with the only cash coming from advertising, merchandise, and government funds. They didn't extort anything from the people they were helping. Neither do firemen or police officers. What's so different about a middle school girl? Izuku was weird.

"You're weird." She said. "Can't a person help others for free just because?" She thought about his other words, about how he mentioned they were only acquaintances. Other than her science fair partner and her parents, she really only had her babies with her… "Well, if you want to pay me for my next project," She spread her arms wide. "Give me a hug and say that we're friends!"

Both of the boys stiffened as they heard her proclamation. Bakugou was feeling a couple of things. One of them was that he felt like a third wheel on a date, except these two weren't romantically involved (_Shut up, shipping-trash side of my personality!_). Secondly, he was confused by it. Yes, he understood that people could do good things for nothing. But she just said she'd make an expensive item for free and was only asking for a bit of friendship from a very friendless person. Eccentric scientist indeed.

Izuku, meanwhile, was trembling. He was on the verge of crying. Someone was asking him of all people to be friends with them. Him! A walking, talking, miniature Fukushima! She was asking a person who killed his own mother by giving her cancer… to be her friend. He could barely wrap his head around what was happening right now. And she was just doing it so casually, and on the first meeting between the two of them to boot! This is not the type of development Kacchan had his little komodo ass study for the past several days. He was expecting a slow-burn friendship!

"... Okay. This is kind of a good deal. But where you going to get the materials to make the Hazmat suit? Not only that, but Izuku uses three different suits, one for each day he decides to go to school." Kacchan looked bitter at that. "That's going to be a bit of cash needed."

"Oh, don't worry about what it'll cost me- which is very little by the way. Just so you know, I- well, my family- have connections to people. I'll be able to make the best suits for our friend here so he won't have to-"

Izuku hugged Hatsume, even wrapping his tail around her. Everyone was surprised; Hatsume wasn't normally on the receiving end of sudden close contact, and Bakugou was shell-shocked that his very loner-some, generally people-phobic friend was _initiating close contact_ with someone they just met.

_Well, some _friend _we just met._

"Tha…" He sniffled behind his hazmat mask. "Thank you… thank you…"

Hatsume patted his back awkwardly, but she gave a winning smile while doing so.

Bakugou grunted and turned to King Caesar.

"You feel like a third-wheel too, scrap metal?"

King Caesar did not respond. Instead, it just sat there as an onlooker to destiny.

* * *

**A/N: It just occurred to me that Izuku's canon personality is more suited for a certain plasma-powered turtle rather than a certain irradiated lizard/dinosaur/titan/tree thing/whatever the hell Shin is**

**Hmm... oh well, not going to change it**


End file.
